California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday he will commute the death sentences of all 548 people on the state's death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole as he prepares to leave office.1,4,5,6,7,8
Newsom said the action reflected his long opposition to capital punishment and his view that it cannot be carried out fairly, while Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman warned the commutations could eventually give convicted killers, including more than 100 sentenced in Los Angeles County, a path to seek freedom.1,4
Under the state constitution, the California Supreme Court must approve clemency for anyone convicted of a felony more than once, a requirement that applies to a large share of the cases. Newsom's office said 382 commutations, or roughly 70 percent, would need court approval, while another account described the share as roughly two-thirds. The review process has no clear timeline.4,5,8
Hochman, in an interview, pointed to Erik and Lyle Menendez as an example of why he said Newsom could not guarantee the inmates would remain in prison. The brothers faced the death penalty for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents in Beverly Hills but were sentenced to life without parole in 1996. Nearly three decades later, a judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life under California's resentencing laws, making them eligible for parole because they were under 26 at the time of the killings.1
Hochman opposed their resentencing after inheriting the case from his predecessor, George Gascón, who had supported reducing their sentences, after Hochman took office in December 2024. "The Menendez case is exhibit A to show that that statement is just simply not accurate," Hochman said, referring to Newsom's assurance that the inmates would remain in prison. "When Newsom goes ahead and says, as he did in his announcement, that these individuals, even though they're no longer on death row, will spend the rest of their natural lives behind bars, he can't say that with any degree of certitude," he said.1
Newsom, who placed a moratorium on executions in 2019, said in a letter to Californians that he acted because he believes capital punishment conflicts with the state's values and legal foundations. "I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us," Newsom said. "I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency," he wrote. "These offenders will die in prison but not by our hand," he added.1,4,7,8
Newsom said he decided not to exclude people convicted of the most serious crimes. "I have decided to commute every death sentence. Some have said I should not grant clemency to people who committed the 'worst of the worst' crimes," Newsom said. "I have concluded that attempting to distinguish among crimes and offenders for clemency would inadvertently create two classes of murder victims—those whose perpetrators deserve the death penalty and then the rest," he said. Those covered include Richard Allen Davis, convicted in the 1993 murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, a case that led to California's "three-strikes law"; David Westerfield, convicted in the 2002 murder of 7-year-old Danielle Van Dam; Alejandro Avila, convicted in the murder of Samantha Runnion, a case that led to statewide expansion of California's Amber Alert program; and Isauro Aguirre, convicted in the murder of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez.5
Others include Randy Kraft, convicted of sexually assaulting, mutilating and murdering 16 young men; William Suff, convicted of murdering 12 women; Gerald Parker, convicted of raping and murdering five women; Chester Dewayne Turner, convicted of raping, strangling and murdering 14 women, including one who was pregnant; and Charles Ng, convicted of torturing women and murdering 11 people, including two infant boys. The reports also said several other inmates convicted of murdering their own children are among those whose sentences would be commuted.5
Hochman said Newsom failed to consult victims' families before announcing the commutations and questioned the timing of the decision late in his term. "It felt like he woke up one day, seven years into his term, on the eve of leaving, and decided that he had the moral imperative to commute all these sentences," Hochman said. "It sort of has the tragedy replayed once again for them," he said of relatives. Sandy Fried, the mother of 8-year-old Michael Lyons, who was murdered by Robert Rhoades, called the clemency a "disgrace," and Marc Klaas, the father of Polly Klaas, said the pardon of Richard Allen Davis was "unbelievably disappointing" and a "knife in the back."1,5
California has not carried out an execution since 2006, when 76-year-old Clarence Ray Allen was put to death, and has more people on death row than any other state, representing one-quarter of death row inmates in the country. Newsom's office said 220 of the 548 people have waited 15 years or more for legal representation to challenge their cases. California voters have twice since 2012 rejected measures to abolish the death penalty and convert death sentences to life, and in 2016 approved a measure to speed up appeals and executions. The Death Penalty Information Center said 917 death row inmates in the United States have received clemency since 1976, a figure that includes Newsom's 548, making it the largest mass commutation; the next-largest was 167 by former Illinois Gov. George Ryan in January 2003. Former President Joe Biden commuted 37 death sentences in December 2024 but left Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Dylann Roof and Robert Bowers on death row.5,6,8
The commutations will now go to the state Supreme Court for review where required, and governor-elect Xavier Becerra has pledged to extend the moratorium on executions. Newsom, a Democrat whose term ends in January 2027, has been discussed as a possible presidential candidate in 2028 in one of his final acts. "This will always weigh heavily on me. As Governor, I alone bear the responsibility for this decision and its impact, just as I alone would bear responsibility for each execution," Newsom wrote. "For this reason, I am compelled to follow my conscience and, as authorized by our Constitution, take this action for the welfare of the state of California," he wrote.4,5,8
